arti
July 7th, 2022
Though USDT has the largest market capitalization among all stablecoins, USDC has its advantages and differences from its peers.
Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are the two biggest stablecoins in the industry. A year ago, first-mover Tether was unquestionably the market leader. But USD Coin is catching up and growing much faster than Tether. Notably, last month it overtook Tether on the Ethereum network. Stablecoins exist on various smart contract blockchains, including Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL), Algorand (ALGO), and others. These cryptos tie their value to other commodities, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. For example, both USDT and USDC are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin launched in 2018 by Centre, which is a consortium created by Circle and Coinbase. USDC is an open-source protocol, which means anyone can use it — not just Circle and their partners. USDC along with tether (USDT) equates to more than 80% of total market capitalization for all U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins. Though USDT has the largest market capitalization among all stablecoins, USDC has its advantages and differences from its peers.
USDC is basically a tokenized version of the U.S. dollar (USD). It is fully redeemable, meaning you can trade it for the same amount of cash you deposited to create your account. USDC provides customers with a fast and cost-effective way to transfer value quickly anywhere in the world. Unlike some stablecoins linked to the price of a single asset or basket of assets, USDC’s value is tied directly to the U.S. dollar. USDC reserves are held in segregated accounts in the United States with regulated U.S. financial institutions in the form of cash and short-duration U.S. Treasuries.
The USDC protocol was made to provide better access to cryptocurrencies to the general public. The goal behind USDC is to help the cryptocurrency sector become more user-friendly. USDC was also developed in order to be used by businesses and individuals alike. As USDC provides an open-source smart contract, this allows other companies to develop their own blockchain products, such as wallets and exchanges. However, those who want to use the U.S. dollar as a payment or reward system for their customers, employees, or partners can access these services easily through USDC’s Payouts solution.
